Donita
Ellison is a printmaker and sculptor who taught fine art for 18 years at LaGuardia
High School for Music & Art and the Performing Arts, and is an
Associate at the Aesthetic
Realism Foundation, both in New York City. In her hometown
of Springfield, Missouri she majored in art at Missouri State University. She moved to New York in 1980 to study at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation
and is now attending professional classes taught by the Chairman of Education Ellen
Reiss. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts
in New York City where she studied printmaking with Chaim Koppelman and
sculpture with Joel Shapiro; and graduated with honors from Iona College with a MS in Art Education.

Ms.
Ellison has presented talks on the work of American sculptors, including
Louise Nevelson and Alexander Calder, and has presented seminars on the
questions of women and how Aesthetic Realism explains that the answer is
in the meaning and technique of art. She was a guest lecturer at
Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Spiva Center
for the Arts in Joplin, Missouri and participated in 31st Congress of
the International Society for Educationthrough Art.

Ms.
Ellison uses the Aesthetic
Realism Teaching Method in the art classes she teaches to high
school students, and gives professional development workshops for art educators. Her work has been exhibited at the Terrain
Gallery and Broome Street Gallery, both in Soho. She writes:

Welcome! On this website you will see what Aesthetic Realism explains about life, art, teaching, love, the family, economics and so much more! Founded in 1941 by Eli Siegel, America’s eminent poet, critic and educator, this education comprehends and relates the world, the meaning of art, and our most intimate selves. Learning that the world has a structure which makes sense—is both logical and beautiful—has enriched my life and art enormously! That logic is in this principle:

“The world, art and self explain each other; each is the aesthetic oneness of opposites.”